The Sun. — London, England, 1826-05-20 00:00:00

per nos who felt that they were under the guarantee of the English 6.fivernitteiat. :or. LUSHINGTON said, that an answer had not been re tuned ma this L eathject from the Treasury until very lately. So has Honourable irriend could not sooner have presented the peti- I'boo. Uje ecgogted that that answer was not of a more satisfactory nature, and be recollected that on a ffirtner occasion, he and. hie Honourable :Friend the. Member for Knaresborough had success; e. advocated a similar cause for another colony, when the Eiirl BethurSsuade a communication which completely conciliated the fectintts4ote,parties concerned,' .kle 4144404ffift,: in the present insane., hkejulitice tveuld'be . done; Mr. ELOCE, in allusion to the ohservation of the Right lion. the Chwietiloe of the Exchequer; 'meld, he had heard ft with stir prise, and ilimildoven now be, glad to hear in what part of the history of the peper curreimy of this country's colonial aequisitibn, a precedent was to be found fur no anomalous and startling a pro • petition., .. . lIERIIIES should recommend the postponement of the discussion until the documents were before the House.. This sir. lotion bed netee . bieo at par, save at one period„7 . in consequence of the measures resorted to by the tlieit Dutch. Goverimient. The deterioretion of the chrrency was attribiltable , to. its not being pay able op demand. 1 4, ippeared the Dutch residents had established lately a very salutary prevision for adjusting the difficulties which had *risen from this Mixed currently, by making Is. fid.. British, equal to 4s. papa cttirency of the country, which provision would fiend-eertaluly to redress, in soine degree, the evil complained of. If the.parties holding these notes were to be now entitled to re ceive 4e.. in save, it *Mild be doing a manifest injury to the pub .4k. He hoped the time Was not distant when an issue of coin -would relieve the currency of the colony front its embarraasmente, and it was iatended by' Government to make that circulation uni form throughout the colony. Mr. BARING agreed in the propriety of a new and better or ' ganited currency id 'the colony. Already an ordinance of the Cape of Gifothlittpe. Government had ordered Spanish dollars to be taken at 4;S. 4d. The over issue of one million of rix-dollare by the British Aleyeiument, under Lord Caledon, had mainly oe.. easioned the inetniyenietice and the depreciation of the colonial • eurreecy. He hoped Parliament would not hesitate, by its re ception.of ,the petition,, to mark the 'conviction it entertained of the imprepriety under any circumstances of such over-issues. He, hoped the Hon. Gentleman would agree to the appointment of a Commission, over which lie might very fitly preside, with the advantage of bringing before. the Committee much important offi cial information. As to Colonel Bird, it was clear he had no right to expect that he should receive four shillings for paper rix doll/ire issued for 45., but really worth at the time they were re ceived but British. TheVetition was read, and, purported to be from Colonel Bird, ..of the Cape of Good .Elope, complaining of the depression in the currency of that colony. Mr..-BABING presented a Petition from the Manufacturing Cotton Spinners of Glasgow, praying that the House would Send to them in their distressed situation some suitable measure o MANUFACTURING DISTRESS. Lord MILTON felt the time was now arrived, when, in con sequence of the approaching conclusion of the sitting of that Ilouse; and the improbability of the motion of his Hon. Friend fur Coventry relative to the Manufacturing Interests coming on this evening, it because his duty to put again that question to the Right lion. Gentleman, the Foreign Secretary, which he had on a termer occasion declined to answer. He did' not now repeat the question through a mere motive of curiosity, but for the pur pose of eliciting information which it was important for the in terests of society should no longer be withheld ; and he trusted that under such circumstances the Right Hun. Gentleman would not hesitate, speaking officially as a Member of Government, to acquaint the House cod the country, whether it was intended by his Majesty's Government to propose any measure of relief by a grant of public-money to the distressed manufacturers. Mr. Secretary CANNING, in reply to the question put to Lim by the, Noble Lord for the second time, must observe that his formal disinclination to answer that question could easily be accounted for;. inasmuch as that in a case of such delicacy, every delay,' even a • delay of twenty-four hours, tvas of very great importance, from the circumstance of its affording opportu nity to his Majesty's Ministers to collect more accurate details of the operation and extent of the distress experienced by this class of his . Majesty's subjects. In the attempt now made by the Noble Lord to elicit information, he must say the conduct of the Noble Lord Was perfectly proper and consistent. He begged to be un derstood, in the answer he now felt disposed to give to that ques tion, that lie was far from saying there were no cases in which it might not be proper, on the part of his Majesty's Government, to depart from the general principle on which it was in all ordinary cases bound to act. With respect to the interference of his Ma jesty's Government, in any cireurostancesi a case ought to he made sot of an overruling necessity ; a (mac, which shut out the hope of relief from other source*, and which threatened a permanency of the evil tb be redressed. In the present instance be was bound for say,' that the circtimstcucce of the case did not appear to be' such as would bear out his Majesty's Government in vial a departure from the sound, general principle. The dis tr,c4 had been great, it was true. It had also been borne wherever it had been felt with exempThrypatience.-(Loud cheers.) —A consideration which, more than any other, would have wsiglied with Ministers, had it been doubtful whether a mea sure of relief should have been recommended, though at the expellee of the principle. Private charity had flowed in, how ever, ill such a stream as led them and others to infer that it was ass yet only beginning, and that it was restrained and checked ouly.from the circumstance of its being still a matter of doubt weedier those die - U . 6l4es would not be 'relieved from other ecurces than those of private charity. Under this impression he must say, that notwithstanding the various and conflict ing views which' bad been taken by many of the question, it was not his intention to propose to the House a grant of public money to meet and alleviate the disttessee alluded to. A grant would . .doubthrta atop the current of public charity. He had just receittek accounts that the distress was already beginning to be less felt. Much praise was certainly due to those gentlemen who had so freely comm tinicated with his Mitjesty's Government eo the character and. extent of the distress, from which much all vantage must always result; but more was yet dile to the laud able' exertions of. thew gentlemen' who bad been charged with the distribution of the-funds collected, The aspect of that distress was certainly improving t he regretted to add, not act much so as to make it unnecessary still to appeal to private charity, though appearances did not call on his Majesty's Ministers to sin against the principle. It would be the more inexpedient and inadvisable that Parliament should interfere in this instance and extend the 13 awl of benevolence to the manufacturers in their : dietresses, which in the case of the distresses experienced so generally by the agri culturists not long since Parliament had , felt it utterly nut of its power to grant. After an attentive investigation and. mound eon. sideration of the circumstances of the ceast, such had been the de termination of his Majesty's Government, and he hoped that both the Reeve sad the public were persuaded that they had not been ay.:seated by any insensibility to those distresses, iu reconciling themselyea to that doterminattori.—(lmo cheers.). The Petition was then read and ordered to be printed. Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON rose to *sent a Petition which referred to the - subject about to be submitted' to their con aideration 'by his Hon. and Learned Friend. The petition was signed bysB,ooo persons in the City of Glasgow, and it tempe rately called'On the House to early into effect, as soon as possible, the three. resolutions which it bad already passed on the subject of the abOlition of slavery its the West Indies.' • The temper and lan guage of the petitioners' 'would, he believed, be. found strictly to correspond with the humane objects they had in view.—Ordered to "be printed. Mr. BLAIR ftle it his duty in cofulequerice of what the Noble Lord had said, se to the getting up of the petition from Citsige , 6 that the p.:s;tiots was suothi , r instance of the tricks which the Methodists and Dissenters had recourse to for the purpose of in flaming the public mind by misrepresentation. In order to swell the number_ of signatures to that petition, the. subBcriliers were in ninety-Pine caws out of a hundred, school-hoys, colliers and ear.; ten, or parsons whO had nu property.--KA. laugh, and cheering.) Ford A. HAMILTON said, he spoke on the representation of asiother, Mr. Thomas Addison ; be himself being in London whets the Petitioa was signed. Mr. BLAIIt was perfeetly certain he spoke from good sixth°. rity, indeeA he bad been fully authorised to use the name of his inlet inset, Charles S. Parker, a man of great respectability. Mr. A. CAMPIJELL corroborated the , preceding speaker. 1111 Many sellouts all the boys went obliged to sign, some , of afeto signing six or even seven times over.-...(A b o t t i blu Merchant's sons were compelled by , their 3Cboolnittater to girl their names two or three thnes over to eke out the sig. neural. 'Mr. 'BROUGHAM said nothing was more frequent. than such &ore es these, where a considerable anxiety prevailed on any ithiportant subject under Pavliameutary discussion. It was only a 40 'conflicting evidence,: "ftlic T. MESON considered the artifices resorted to by the Aiiii.slavey Societies ' were unfair, and totally , unworthy of a good cause. - . - If the Noble Lord opposite were not so totally igno the Matter, Ise . would hare - asked Lint` ::it. he- were awe 14, Skit they left papers with the represent ation of a. slave in in order to get persons to sign a piece of paper to be tacked to a Petition they had never read or seen ? The Petition was read and ordered to be printed. Lord STANLEY rose to state, that some months since the BoreughrSeve of Manchester was requested to bold an Anti-Sla very Meedrig of the Towns p eople, which he had refused for some reason beat :known to himself. A Meeting; however, took place, iit4cinseqttence of Sir Roger Moseley the Lord of the Manor, eon- Se ntink to convene.a Meeting 'relative to the seine subject, namely, the propriety of abolishing Slavery. A PetitiOn was agreed to on the subject, and so conscientious were they in refusing any double aignatores, that above- fifty Subscribers' names in duplicate were erased, and nine hundred .a.solittely refused, for some alleged con scientious objections. The Petition be now bad to present, con sisted of forty-tme thoysand names, all which he was instructed to say were genuine. • • Mr. PHILIPS observed; that the conduct of the Boroughreeve On that occasion Was highly censurable, and . had nut with general reprobation. 'After a few words front Mr. Wa.atte and Mr. W. Howrott, the Petition was read and laid on the table. SLAVERY. Mr. BROUGHAM was, for some time after he rose, inaudible in the gallery. When we first might his language, he was com menting upon the Orders of Council, promulgated at Trinidad, which were entitled t . dtlit . first place in his attention, as they form,. ed the basis of the regulations which were to be enforced in the other conquered colonies, and of • those to be recommended for adoption in those colonitsi - which have Legislatures of their own. Ile would venture to state one or two points in which the Orders in COuneil appeared to him to be imperfect. One of their most im portant beads was that which related to Slave evidence. It was made admissible only in the case of such slaves as had obtainedu certificate from a minister of religion, that they had evinced such moral and religions qualities:lß entitled their oath to attention. He saw no rea son why slaves, as well as any other persons, should not he admitted . to that preliminary examination, which took place in this country, where a Pagan, a Mahometan, or a person of no religion at all, provided only he believed in 'the existence of.a Deity, and in a future state, was a competent witness. This regulation was, however, praiseworthy for its liberality; for the qualifying certificates might be given by Dissenting. Ministers, as well as by those- of the Establishment. Objections had been'etated to the rbnission•ef slave evidence in cases where their master was a party. He did not recognize the force of this objection. What he thought particularly objectionable was, the limitation as to the nature of the offences,. on the. trial of which slave evidence was to be received. , He saw no reason why they should not be competent witnesses on the trial of capital as well as clergyable offences. By these regulations the Protector or Guardian of Slaves was precluded from holding property in plantations or ,in slaves ; but this prohibition, did not extend to the • holding such property in any other Island than Trinidad, nor to the owner ship of domestic slaves even there. Prejudices against the Ne groes were more likely to arise from the possession of do mestic slaves than any other, as this brought the master and the slave into the closest contact. The regulatiwt besides did not apply to any but the principal guardian—the subordinate protec tors or guardians were exempt from it. Ile was thefore anxious that these measures should be carried further. The abolition of the Sunday markets was commuted into a restriction forbidding the holding of them after ten o'clock, and though this might pro mote a due observance of the Lord's Day upon the plantations' in the immediate vicinity of the market, it could not have that beneficial effect with respect to. those slaves whose homes were distant from it. There was no remuneration provided for their loss by abstaining front working their provision grounds on the Sunday. So that in fact, no temptation was held out to the due observance of the day. The separation of husband and wife was prohibited in cases of judicial or compulsory sale, hut allowed in the case of voluntary sale ; an arrangement which might, he thought, be very naturally and properly as well as very bene ficially reversed. He objected particularly to the punishment in flicted upon slaves who had made accusations certified by the Magistrate to be unfounded. This proceeded upon an erroneous principle of legislation. They should be judicially, and not sum marily punished. They were now punished in the worst possible way. They were *cut back to their master, irritated by having been made the object of accusation, and he became at once the judge and the executioner. He had thought it hie duty to point out these defects in the Order in • Council, but still he admitted they were as nothing to their manifold excellencies. They ought to be, and he trusted they would he, steadily and resolutely en forced. The orders issued at Demerara were less perfect than those at Trinidad, particularly in respect to the point of slave evidence, anti the manumission of slaves. Besides these, there were fire other Colonies under the legislative power of the CrOwn. in not one of these hail any thing been done. He was not urging any charge, but such he understood to be the fact. Ile then came to consider the case of the Thirteen Colonies which had Legislatures of their own. In these, with the ex ception of five or six of them, nothing had been done. In six of them the return was nil under every column, viz. Antigua, 13ermuda, Nevis, St. Kitt's, .Tortola, andllontse.rrat. In these it was not even pretended that any thing had been dons. He would then turn to Jamaica, the most important of our West India Colonies: In this Colony improvements might be sup posed to be the easiest,'snd for obvious reasons it was likely to be the most under the influence of English feelings. The Honourable and Learned Member then entered into .detailed statements to show that the Order in Council had not been attended to with respect to any of its recommendations. A very feeble and imperfect measure had been brought before the House of Assembly, providing for the admissibility of Slave evidence in certain cases and upon certain conditions, . . . and it was rejected in-such a manner as to leave but little hopes to the friends of amelioration from the Colonial Assemblies. With respect to religious instruction, be could not agree in opi nion with the Right Rev. Prelate the Bishop of Jamaica, that the state of things was highly satisfactory: Building and endow ing churches were the only means the Right Reverend Prelate would acknowledge as likely to be efficacious. He thought that teaching the slaves to read would be very beneficial, at least, as an auxiliary measure. He begged to be understood that in speaking of the conduct of the Jamaica House of Assembly, he was urging no accusation against that body. Their conduct was governed by the general temper of the dominant 'prejudices of the commu nity in which they were placed. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman then alluded to the violent prejudices which prevailed against Sectarian teachers. It was his opinion, that Sectarian preachers and teachers were best fitted to instruct and reform the population of these islands, 'and this opinion he was happy to say he held in common with many of the most enlightened Gentlemen connected with the Colonies, and amongst them, with his Honourable Friend, the Member for. Taunton. He would next advert to the progress made in Barbadues. The first report from that island was under every orlumn nil. A supplemeetary report had however recently arrived, and be learned from that last report that several important measures had' been adopted. lie did not mean to say that any thing had been done in pursuance of the Order in Council : they had been doing much worse than nothing. The Bon. and. Learned Mem ber then entered into a detailed statement of the recent enact ments of the Legislature of Barbadoes, the whole of which were copied from old laws of the islands, with such additions and modifications as rendered them mischievous rather than bene ficial. One of these enactments promised manumission, and a pension foe life, to any slave who, in case of invasion or rebel lion, killed, by any means, one or snore of the enemy or the rebels. Another imposed severe punishment upon any slave who employed insolent language or 'gestures to or against any white or free person, or for cock-fighting, or for riding a horse upon any road faster than a foot's pace,. or for driving at a snore rapid rate than a slow trot. For any of these offences he was to re ceive not more than 39 stripes. The Hon. and 'Learned Gentle man enumerated a variety of other regulations which he deemed 'highly objectionable -respecting the slaves, and contrasted their severity with the mildness of the punishment to be, inflicted by this law upon a white or free person, inflicting bodily injury, short of death, upon a slave. 'Suck white person would be sub ject to fine. or imprisonment, at the discretion of the Court : no minimum fixed. He might cut off the leg or arm of a slave, and be punished perhaps; by a fine of Is. - It would be too severe to inflict upon him, for so alight an offence, - the' thirty-nine stripes to which a slave would be subject for the grave crime of deviating from a legal pace in riding n horse. , Then there was the wan tonly, cruelly, and maliciously bruising of slaves ; - --what was the punishment for that? Let Gentlemen remember that the bruising might amount to such an injury as would make the slave mise rable for life; and the punishment was, a penalty of twenty five pounds. On the other hand, if any slave should hear aunther slave use words having a tendency to mutiny, or should know 'of such words, having been used, and did not immediately disclose the same to his or .her owner, what was the consequence? Let Isis Hoe. Friend see these words—he was a lawyer, and knew their importance..--” having a tendency to mutiny." How was the poor slave to know whether certain words had or bad not A tendency to mutiny, when that point was, frequently the one which a Jury found it Most difficult to determine? But what !was the .punishment for this offence? Was it a penalty of or the infliction of 49 stripes ? No; the negro was pis oFirsiletenddw-(ilir. with death, whoth.llelged the attention of his Honoura ble this, if he Out more‘p4wircuituarlkivingentngagaednothuepronMeasber) to any yother subject. There We rt Puny other things in this Act of 192 b, which claimed the attention of the House, which Act had been considered by its antborp, as the acme of , wise legislation, and which was splendidly to clew their labours in forwarding the greet , work of diffusing justice, abolishing cruelty, and ameliorating , the general condition of the slave. - To say that he was disappointed with this legislation of the . House of Assembly at lierhadoes—that lie had In uch rather the Act had not passed—that he believed it only made things worse—would only he to express the opinion of an individual who would be charged With prejudices upon the subject. ,But the same disappointment was expressed by the Go vernor ot . the Island in his despatch to Lord Bathurat.• To know that nothing more was intended to be done, they had only to look at - the declaration of the House of Assembly by its Speaker at the close of their labours. His words were—" Neither thread nor persuasions shall induce us 'to put the finishing hand ,to our own political, or perhaps natural existence." What they, meant by putting the finishing hand to their own existence was',—coniphance with the Orders in Council. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman then proceeded to the acts of the Legislature of the Bahamas, and contended that nothing which they :bad dime approached to is semblance of the Trinidad Order in Council. lie contended that all the provisions they had made since the passing of the resolutions of that House, 'were either nugatory'iti their necessary effect, or to be found in some former Acta of the Colonial Governments. He stated that, the Act pasted on the fiBth of January, I_o4, providing for the religious instruc tion of the slaves, was copied verbatim from the 6th section of the Act of 1796,- Another provision was that of suspending all taxes heretofore levied on the manumission of slaves; whereas in a do cument dated itt the year 1822, and signed "13. Nisbett,V the Secretary to the Government of the Bahamas, it was stated that there was no tax u pori'mnnumission. • The clause relating to pit uishinent was precisely the same in substance as the corresponding section in the Act of 1796, except the limitation to private punish ment in the case of female slaves, under a penalty of 101. Every one of these clauses were paraded through the Report as improve ments made since 1824. whereas every one of them were to be found in different sections of the Act of 1796. lie then went to the Acts of the Legislatures of Tobago, Grenada, Dominica, and St. Vincent's, contending that driving had not been effectually pia 'down, and that slave evidence was not rendered admissible by the Acts purporting to accomplish those ends. These were the illu sive, and, if he did not wish to avoid personal. reflections upon the parties, he would say, deceptions enactments, which were held up as the greatest extent to2which these Legislators would be in duced to go. He pledged himself to the.aceuracy of his general statement, anctif it were denied, he had the old Acts by him, and would engage to satisfy any Gentleman by instant reference, that what had been done since 1623 was not new, or had not been done in compliance with the expressed wishes of the House. To repeat those wishes, and to send out for the hundredth time the same decision, 'would only be lkying the ground for fresh opposi tion and fresh failure. r Helmd felt it his duty to give the House an opportunity, by its vote of that night, of letting it be known in the West Indies—of letting it be known in this country—but above all, of letting it he known to, the West Indian Legislatures —who were disregarding; and would continue to disregard the authority of that House, until it aroused to a just feeling 14 the indignity--of letting them know that if they persisted in refusing to do their duty, the time was arrived when the Parliament were determined to do theirs. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman concluded by moving, " That thii House has observed with deep regret, that nothing has been effected by the Legislatures of his Majesty's Colonies in the West Indies, in compliance with the declared wishes of his Majesty's Government, anti with the reso lutions of this House of the 15th of May, 1822, respecting the treatment and condition of Slaves; and that this House, early in the next Session of Parliament, will take into its most serious con sideration such measures as may appear necessary for giving effect to its resolutions." ,Mr. W. HORTON said, that the resoluion of the Honourable and Learned Gentleman only amounted to a pledge that the House should take the subject into its serious consideration early in the nest Session. But when they had already sent notice of the determination of the Government to every one of the Colonial Legislatures, it appeared to hint that such a resolution was superfluous, unless it was intended as a censure upon the course which the House had previously sanctioned.---(Hear, hear.) — The Honourable and Learned Gentleman had stated the ques tion as if it had been said by him (Mr. IL) that what 'had been done by the Legislative Assemblies was an effectual compliance with the Trinidad Order in Connell. He had said nothing of the kind. It was asserted on . the other side that those bodies, actuated by a contumacious stubbornness, bad done no thing ; and he, in answer, had maintained that upon many points they had followed the recommendations of the Government, and although they certainly had not upon others, yet that their re fusal did not amount to a contumacious resistance. It was clear that their great unwillingness to meet the wishes of the House arose front fears regarding their personal property and personal safety. Therefore, when it was attempted to be charged upon them that they refused compliance front an abstract love of slavery, he felt bound to declare his opinion that much of the prevailing opposition was bottomed upon apprehensions of that nature: The prudent course wee to convince the West India proprietors that their alarms were groundless; and as those opinions gained ground in the West Indies, he was convinced their objections would disappear. The Honourable Gentleman then vindicated the Tri nidad Order in Council, maintaining that its effect would be 'greatly to raise the condition of, the slave, and that the means it recommended for attaining that object were the most eligible of any that could be suggested. He alluded' to the case of Demerara, where the effect of the measures taken. by Lord Bathurst had already procured Acts of the Legislature for carrying the pro visions of. the Trinidad Order into full effect. Ile ap pealed to the opinion of the Duke of Manchester upon the Act for abolishing Sunday Markets, which contradicted the assertion of the Hon. and Learned Membee, that nothing had been done to relieve the ecindition of the Slave in Jamaica. Another of their stets provided, that a portion of the time of the Clergy should be employed on Sundays in giving religious instruction to the Negroes. The lion. and Learned Gentleman had ascribed the respect which the Colonists paid to the Bishop and Clergy, to their dread of Sectarisrn. He did not mean to undervalue the services' of the Missionaries who had done so much for spreading the Christian religion, but it was evident that the feeling of the , Colonisti towards them arose front their net being considered proper teachers for the Slaves, • He thought himself, that Clergy men of the Establishment were much better fitted for, the teak, and that it was much to to the credit of- tbe inhabitants of Ja maica, that they had been so well received. He contended, , that from the speeches delivered in the House of Assembly, it was clear the opposition arose from a fear that the rights of property would be invaded, and not from the mere love of Slavery. The course which the' government were punn ing was therefore best calculated - to enlighten them upon that subject, and to lead to a gradual relaxation of. that obstinacy which be allowed to have existed in an unwarrantable degree. The Hon. Gentleman went on to observe, that when be heard Isis Learned Friend referring to repetitions of Acts of Parlia ment of a prior date, it was 'his moat decided opinion that this House was as much responsible for these Acts as the Colonial Legislature was. These Acts necessarily received the sanction of the Crown, they were before both Houses of Parliament, and he was satisfied no person would venture to say that Parliament was not cognizant of 'all the terms of the Acts he had alluded to. He (Mr. W. Horton) thought the address on the part of the Hon.. Gentleman unnecessary, because its object was for the House to review that system which must of necessity he reviewed when other Bills came before the consideration of the House, which had been recommended to the Colonial Legislature -for their adoption. He was sorry to have been obliged to enter into a detail of this question ; but as the Hon. Gentleman bad. prefaced hissspeech by a detail—if he (Mr. IL) was not allowed to go into a detail--he should be unable to give the necessary explanation.—(Hear!)...- He thought-the Government had shown the principles on which they had acted, and the measures they had adopted had been duly and fairly laid before the Hostile ancLthe public at large, over and over again: He c o uld say personally that he had always felt him self hound to abide by those measures, and be would venture to say he had never uttered a single sentiment in any way at variance with them. He hoped his Hon. and Learned Friend would abstain from mentioning matters which might in acme degree operate to his prejudice out of doors. Mr. BROUGHAM explained. Dr. LUSHlNGTON'observed, if he might judge from what had occurred in another place, there were sonte of his Majesty's Ministers who had expressed a different opinion from that which had hee.n akeived and acted upon in this House.—(Hear, hear.) —The opinion which he referred to, coming from the lips of a Noble Lord, had strengtbed the Colonists in their resistance, and had tended to protract to a lengthened period the • applica tion of those measures which it was the wish of the Govern ment should be carried into effect. He was not referring to an opinion which might be said to have become antiquated, but it was en opinion delivered within two months from the present time by a Noble and Learned Lord, who had taken an oppor tunity in anoth er place pur p os ely to state, . in direct an d po sitive term s , hi s entire. di sse nt from the very opi n i on w hi c h bad been expeeeeea by' the fli g ht Honourable S ecretary f or Foreign Aff a i rs . Th e Right Honourable Gentleman had stated that the spirit of the British Conititution was not in its principle hostile tb elaverys's And also when-he (Mr. Canning) found the system of,stlay s sey s f ttiO e tu red n i , en " c a o n t l rage he • hoo mighi add, under do and almost t toted by th e 'Britt ing id,co'n the authority of so great and learned a personage as Lord Somers, he should hesitate a long while before be ventured to say that slavery was contrary to the British Constitution.--(Hear, bear, heai.)—He'would only ask, whether sentiments like these were not calculated to uphold the colonists in their contumacious. oppo sition, and whether they were Jiot calculated to defeat the men - cures proposed by his Hon Fricuds. Until it had been -acknow ledged on, all hands that the Slave Trade, was a violation of every principle of justice and morality, nothing etTettnally could ever be done ; but the West Indians, in order to make ~good their title to protection from the House,: must submit-to - . those measures laid down by the House. He knew not how it could be contended that means might not he extended in bringing up the children of. the West Indian slaves in such a way as to fit thein for that state" of freedom which the rest of his Majesty's subjects enjoyed. To fall short of these measures,,, would be to fall short of the measures of justice, and he thought every sacrifice should be made which in justice to the Proprietors of the West India trade, could fairly be granted. Mr. BERNAL said,' without having read the speech alluded to by his Hon. Friend, he believed the argument of the Noble Lord had been to defend the right of property, which he conceived the West Indians to have in the Colonies. His Hon. Friend had attempted to assign t reason for' the Jamaica Assembly not going along with the House in the measures they had adopted. The fact %via', the West Indians were afraid of- the Parliament of Eng. land denying their right to the property they held, and which their ancestors had held for so long a period. Up to the year 1775, slavery was tolerated in Scotland: At this period a statute of Parliament, he believed the 15th of George the Third, was is sued, which absolved from a complete state of bondage the col liers and salt-workers of that part of the kingdom. When be mentioned this case, be trusted he would not be looked upon as unreasonable when he asked for time to deliberate on the question of Emancipation. He would appeal to the House if, during the last 15 or 17 years, the bodily and mental state of the Slaves was not improved? and also if the opinions of the Slave Proprietors had not undergone a complete change? Slaves were not allowed to work on Sundays by a positive law enacted for that purpose; and if any master or agent set his slave to work on a Sunday, he could he punished by the law. He was also aware that in many instances Slaves were possessed of sums of money from ten to one hundred pounds, with good furniture in their houses, and from a strange feudal fancy even they had .slaves. It was very easy for Hon. Members, either in or out of the , House, who had not wives and families to support by their estates in the Colonies, to cry down the whole system, hut he hoped that the Colonists would not be deprived at once of their only support•(in many instances) by any dispensation of Parliament, under whose sanction they had embarked their property. He was ander no necessity of.making use of any unfair arguments when he called upon the British Par liament to mete out to him, and other West Indian Proprietors, that portion of justice which they never had refused to any applicant who came with any claim upon them, and under this head be was sure the West India proprietors came.--(Cheers.) Mr. C. R. ELLIS regretted exceedingly the reception which the recommendations of Parliament had experienced. He was of opinion that religious instruction was one of the first things to be attenikd to, since it was a matter of much importance in the plan proposed for the amelioration of the Slaves. Mr. BUTTERWORTII spoke for seine time amidst loud cries of " Question." Mr. DENMAN followed in support of the motion, quoting the opinions of Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, and Mr. Secretary Canning to show that Slavery was repugnant to the spirit of the Christian religion, and of the British Constitution. Mr. CANNING.—" The Hon. and Learned Gentleman, Sir, has brought the question which is now before the House pre cisely to that point at which I am desirous of meeting it;—that point upon which the House is now called, by its vote, to decide, whether the resolution proposed for its adoption may be useful for the purposes which, I am bound to assume, are the objects of that resolution. Sir, that resolution contains some propositions; to which, as abstract propositions, I have no difficulty (with some modification indeed,) in subscribing. But the particular ques tion for the House to determine, on the present occasion, I take to bs—whether the passing of any such resolution as this be ne cessary or useful ? and if it be neither necessary nor useful, whe ther it may not he rather detrimental than beneficial to the general question upon which: the House has already expressed its feeling ? In addressing myself to the question, I must lay out of the account much—or indeed the greater part— of the speech of one Honourable and Learned Gentleman, because, as I think, it has been already quite determined by the House, by the country, and the Government, to proceed in this great measure as far as possible by topics of conciliation and recernmendation; while the whole of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman's speech was calculated rather for a course of force and terror than any thing else. That speech, therefore, I must leave out of the question as entirely dissonant from the whole tone and temper in which the discussion of this matter has been hitherto conducted from first to last ; and as entirely dissonant from the sensible, detailed, and moderate speech in which this debate had been introduced.—(Hear, 'hear.)—l must assume, ‘Sir, that the resolutions passed by this House in May 1823, contain 'the whole of the code which Parliament have agreed to take' for their guid ance in this business ; and I must also assume (the p os i t i on I have just stated not having-been contradicted), that the seve ral measures which the Government have founded on those resolutions have been admitted to have been conceived in the spirit of those resolutions, and to have been' flamed accordingly. If, Sir, there be those who may think that a different course from that which we have so pursued ought to have been adopted ; if there be 'those who may be even disposed to go buck to the year 1807, as thinking that the .abolition of all slavery in the West Indies ought to have been then enforced by an Act of Parliament, I have really only to say to them that they come too late into the field; that Parliament has already come to its determination, and formed its decision on that subject-- (Cheere.)—l can only remind them, and say, that Parliament has already pronounced, in a voice not to be misunderstood, that it would not by, an immediate act 'proceed to compel the emancipa tion of slaves in the West Indies, but that it look, to that event as a result which will be produced by the more conciliating and moderate course it has already adopted ;--that it will not be diverted from that course, except by a degree of resistant* amounting to contumacy, and which it does not at present contemplate; and that. we may 'still hope that we shall not be drawn to that sort of alternative which a de. parture from this kind of course supposes.—(Cheers.)—Well, then, Sir, as to those again who think that this most import ant' question, involving, as it confessedly does, so nearly the lives, the interests, and the property of so many of our fel low subjects, is to he determined on the abstract proposition—' That man cannot be made the property of man.' I must take the liberty of relegating them to the schools,, and of telling them that they do not deal with this grave and extensive question as Members of the British Parliament, or as members of any established society.—(Loud cheers.)-_I must tell them, Sir, that the practical adoption of their speculative no tions, on so grave and weighty a subject as this, would leave our West India possessions to a state of ravage and desolation, which I think those Hon. Gentlemen themselves would he but little pre pared to expect. The Learned Civilian has made a reference to a former debate, in which lie has quoted a passage of a speech - of mine, wherein I stated ' that the spirit of the British Constitu . tion was, in its principle, hostile to any modification of slavery ;' this reference compels me to set myself right with the House. The Learned Civilian has read the extract from the speech, but be has omitted to give the context from which it is torn. The Hon. Member for Weymouth had on that occasion prefaced his resolution with the declaration that the state of slavery %Sure pugnant to the principles of the British Constitution, and of the Christian religion.' Did .1, on that occasiorie subscribe to that 'proposition ? Could the sentence that I then used be taken to be so employed? In' order that the House should rightly under . - stand what I did say, I will read that part of the speech in which the sentence is included. "'The Hon. Gentleman (it is the lion. Member for Weymouth to whom I alluding) begins his Resolution with a recital ' which I confess greatly embarrasses me : he says, that the state of slavery is repugnant to the principles of, the British Constitu ' tion, and of the Christian religion.' God forbid that he who ven tures to object to this statement should therefore be held to assert a contradiction to' it ! • I do not say that the state of slavery is consonant to the principles of the British Constitution ; still lees I do I say that the state of slavery is consonant to the principles of . the Christian religion. positions myself, nevertheless, I must say, that in my opiuion the e statemente so ciety u unknown w t true: e i n : Put tiniugh I do not advance these pro propositions of the Hon. Gentleman are not practically true. le the lion. Gentleman means that the British Constitution does not admit of slavery in that part of the British dominiona where fullof pollaayv,eruyn:laoustta)te:yofhaois but it makes 'nothing for his object. If, however, the Member is to be understood to maintain that the British Conet.i tution has not tolerated for years, nay more, for centuries, in the c th ol e on Co ies n . sti t t h iiti e o z n is is ten in ce the mother Country—that is a position which is altogether with out foundation, and positively and practically untrue. In any opinion, when a proposition is submitted to this House for the purpose of inducing the House to act upon it, care should be taken not to confound, as 1 think is done in this 'Resolution, what ! is morally true with what is historically fillet?. Undoubtedly, the spirit of,the ;British Constitution is, in its principle, hostile to any modification of slavery. Butt as uudoubteell y, theß r i tish Parlia` meat has for ages tolerated, sanctioned, protected, and even encou raged a system of colonial establishment of which it well knew slavery to be the foundation.' " Now, Sir, God forbid that he who should venture to oppose this proposition, should therefore be held to- maintain a contra dictism of it. I do not say that slavery is sanctioned by the spirit of the Christian religion ; and still less-do I say that it is enjoined by the principles of the British Constitution. But, although I do not advance that proposition in opposition to his, still Ido say that his proposition it not practically true. If the Hon and Learned Gentleman means to say that , the British Con stitution is not favourable to the spirit of slavery, I can admit the truth- of his preposition ; but it makes nothing for his argument. It Ise means to say that the British Conititutioh has not for years . tolerated slavery in its Colonies, then, in my opinion, his propos sition is, positively and practically untrue. ' 'Care, Sir, ought to he taken, in touching questions of this peculiar nature, not to mingle and confound that which being morally true, becomes his- torically false. Undoubtedly the constitution of this country doe' not sanction the practice or principle of slavery. But the Par liament of this country has protected, fostered; and encouraged— (Cheers.) --establishments, whose main support, it well knew, was derived from slavery.—(Cheers.)—Guarded, then, Sir, ea far declaration on this subject was at the beginning, guarded as it was at the end, and coupled with something ie • another place, of which I profess I do not see the peso. tics! bearing, and of which I know nothing but what the assertion of the Honourable and •Learned Gentlemsa conveys to me, I do think that be has somewhat unfairly represented my sentiments. The distinction I now wish to press upon the attention of the House, is the same as I have always en deavoured to maintain. I have before said, that, theoretically true as it may be, that the spirit of slavery is repugnant to the spirit of the British Constitution ; yet this country, blesse d though she bas been with a free Constitution herself, has encou raged the practice, however alien to her institutions; and this too, be it remembered, when her Councils were guided by men,' 61 acknowledged and boasted friends of liberty—at a time, Pella?* when her freedom had not attained that moral maturity which' it now exhibited, or when, perhaps, she was in want of thole light , which have since buret in full effulgence upon the world.' Sat still, Sir, so it is, that this country, notwithstanding her free Coo- stitution, did found, foster, and encourage -a system of which, not only was Slavery the basis, but which required an annual Mtn of the black Stygian stream of slavery as necessary to its nutrie ment• and sustentatien.—(Cheers.)_Thee, Sir, these having been the sentiments recorded by me on former occasions, how to it possible that I could have taken the course in emulous attempted to be imposed upon me by the Honourab le Learned Gentleman opposite? But there was another prolgs" and .tion put forth by the Hon. Member for Weymouth, au the *err • sion to which I have alluded, viz.—that the state of slave"' u not consistent with the principles of .the Christian religion' To this; Sir, I objected ; not, certainly, meaning thereby to de grade the Christian religion antolerant of slavery. or to cat soy imputation upon it, but meaning to free this country from the see ressity which would result from the adoption of such a doctrine'"' of proceeding without thought or hesitation to an immedistelbo lition of practice, not in any degree, or to the ex tent Mefeir of a certain modification, but the whole length of extirpation st once.—(Hear, hear.)--What I meant to deny in the Hon. Metrr, bears proposition was, that the Christian religion and slavere Isseuivil" not be in existence together ; and I say that the reverse 1 fact, for that they have co-existed from the very dawn of Chr , tianity up to the present day. Neither, therefore, Sir , "" I forced to admit that it is a principle of the Christian religion 1° sanction slavery. Its leading principle, Sir, is seen in the WO it has always been found to pursue, adapting itself to the eiten ie stances of the place and time in • which it was seeking to ins progress ; at the s,ame time mounting the throne of the Ctesane 0 . comforting the captive in his cell e and, while Christianity W°' preaching in the street,' of Rome, serri cruciantur was theortliasbir law of the Forum.—(Cheers.)—Then, Sir, it is no t true that . existence of this relig ion prrecribes the extinction of slavery. an unsparing band, from whose fierce persecution there be no refuge. It is not true that it ordains its extirear ol .;( , any other means than those which are consonant with the OD", just, and impartial spirit of the British Constitution, . an d of slavery which pursues a course of deliberate proceeding , es t he . mode of getting rid of an acknowledged evil. The cause dered progression. Is there any thing then, I have always maintained as requisite end PT . P e ,' but by the aid of measures qualified by a deliberate and wee :n o laid down, to inculpate the spirit of Christianity or the prin! tios of the British Constitution ? and if I have made it aPPnr e Teese the British Constitution, the British Government, and th e esee te ss'. Parliament, have for a long series of years fostered thilatteles.ese upon which we all now look with abhorrence, what b th e inference it that we are to continue to foster and not the false principles of our ancestors ? No, Sir, that is w hat maintain; but I do maintain that we, having all c oncu r r o r u e l l. l u .guilt of rearing and fostering the evil, are not to turn . Sir, the Planters alone, and say You shall suffer all the pee al . t Y• e c of ths hear, bear !)--you, alone II , she sustain the pain and inj y.i in what I 1! h e the moral pest' elite severance, while we determine to get rid of t banished you, whom we now p o i n t ou t as the spott ed le p ers, shall be , , t forth from soriety, 'and hurled to utter ru i n for that Isoi Cheers) which we fully participated and encouraged Yen' t e — tree e With —On the contrary, Sir, I propose that l we P Tht is a more tender hand and more deliberate cotlose •, „ ee an d the course . upon which the House has already ee r ° “srhether the question for decision, therefore, this night . ng' th at tore the Resolution now offered for adoption is conceived 1, 0 , 0 04 Aerate spirit, and bears that stamp of deliberation, ee°!' c se not give it the effect of changing the course in which_ t hey the rouly proceeded, and precipitate.the House at once he i ,r_ u " eure s views it had hitherto acted upon. In order to decide tion, let us look where we now stood. . The Resolution of ; 1823, form the ground upon which we ha ve hitherto po,ct7. and we have done so with a more than us ual quantity. ~fect4 country. probation of the ls there, then , reason to oe' t herwil l the Government have acted upon these Resolution! o no me than in the most perfect sincerity of spiri t ; and is if the that the Government hive avowed their detertninatew:to,pee Colonies should evince a contumacious res istance, t ees ellese Parliament for aid to enforce their introduction:, k if 0. hear, hear !) — lf then, these two propositions be te par es, have acted with sincerity in the views sanctioned 'l a iee ei' ment—and if we have not departed from the derlarotecreo our determination to come to Parliament for aid i ! ' s du not ry, wherefore now adopt a Resolution, which, ia ' _ em ery, fully support the views of Government, must, of tle perplex them ? Le We have 'already h.ad, the c ourse o l f ave Smion, one or two motions' on the eubject. rrn ~ a , ly felt I moved an amendment, expre.eiVe of the disgust eet e u e w e e at some of the scenes brought under the notice of u l 'e „ es t. on the occasion ; and declaeing anew that we bad on) : g el sir reason to adhere to the Resolution of the nn ee e ee to to in May, 1523. If, therefore, this Re s olut ion even' toe' than a renewal of our former deelarations, it would atomet7eepees thing. But, in fact, it is to such thing. In the first telsess l . To sea regret at the proceedings of the 'West Lichen Lari at?_ sold 0 this part of it I earl Live no objection, further tha n th at it call , se a waste of time to record over again • what we have re,•edeee corded ; and, as to the eccond part of the resolution,lll.oreed the House to follow up thia declaration with ineasoro c eee ther to give effest to it on the ensuing Session, to th at I have Jeer' ,and a different objection. I think to recor d such I, Sir , urination , would be productive of positive mischief. „,esibir do not look to the six or eight months which lo s Y, te l i ii, airy intervene between the preeent and ensuing Sessi (m , w o' t feeling of despair that the West Indian. Governs' e esti o °' adopt some measures in the spirit of, the reeony ne de ttri o sent out' to then, ; and I think their disposition o w 0 111 4 waled be weakened by a pledge of this nature. I V A li b ' be the effect of it on their minds? They w ould H ave ei s seee to argue that we knew nut our own m inds ' that,, tented with the course we had already taken, we , pledged to resort to some other isle of legitastl; ' Hoes whatever might have been the views of Goverereen t e t ee eerf b e Y of Commons had stepped in and changed them of 7 0 ia pledging it to a slew mode of proceeding. In this wee. I vete Jamaica Legielature have a right to argue , . a e d so, t, it, 1° member of it, should I 'segue. Shouhl we the n, be li t, but e l abandon at on.:e those ex stations which it p ot must have, and which the West Indian Legislator' ; les , 'lief, so absurd and impolitic, to give it no worse a. moral eP i te e ti see" entirely dissppoint, by m signilying to them that we are n ae o d e s° with our own ime, road warning them thereby to w , e i r ar ! what farther sr ps .ve should he disposed to take 0 , m e se An lion. Friend of mine, Sir, who has done hi woes credit to-night le , his speceh, has asked me wbetie,rnidati understand that the Order iu Council repecting T!' eee ee prised the whole of the eystem GOVenlillellt mean_eolool;. te ., s eree My answer is:, that so far Ili the resolution of this It_ o n itt: to Government the course they are to pestle, fes!„, ee reles!, e , Council in queetion does cotripris,e the intentions Wi ner to If the Colonial Legislatures act in a Lena/tile Inn n i __ a des re spirit of that order, not acting as: though with 'f o keep the word of promise to the eat obi t And break it to the hope;' lest ° I meselY ' ll tele" if they ehouhl procceel tey substantial and not „ e go acts, with a full determination to iolopt the systernnes'seviu I am convinced, Sir, thatahe is Parlieme t e ,, t est 11 e e g r ,).--elt is the spirit of the wo , — .